Starpower: exponential. Gripping drama: ditto (social, psychological, legal). Music: by none other than Duke Ellington. (He won a Grammy for the score.) A multiple Oscar nominee, Anatomy of a Murder (1959) has all the makings of a classic film, one of director Preminger—and Hollywood's—finest.

"Considered by many to be the best courtroom drama ever made. Small-town lawyer in northern Michigan faces an explosive case as he defends an army officer who has killed a man he suspects was his philandering wife's rapist. Realistic, cynical portrayal of the court system isn't especially concerned with guilt or innocence, focusing instead on the interplay between the various courtroom characters."—VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever